Buffy The Vampire Slayer: New Beginnings
by Andy Page
Summary: *chapter 4 uploaded!!* Sorry about the long delay : ) set after season 7 (spoilers may be present). please r
1. Prologue

Buffy: The Vampire Slayer

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New Beginnings

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Prologue

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This is set after season 7. The First summoned Glory to kill Buffy, Faith and the other potentials, Buffy and Faith fight her but Faith gets killed.

Willow fights the First, she runs when she realizes she can't win but an Uber Vamp blocks her path, Willow kills it with her power and runs.

Dawn gets another visit from her mother who tells he she loves her and Buffy and she misses them. Then she gives Dawn a vase which is full of blood. Her mother simply says it has the power to kill a God. Dawn runs to seek Buffy.

Xander protects Anya from a load of demons that are trying to kill her he kills them, then Anya and Xander kiss and get back together, Xander promises her he will never leave her again.

Giles is with Spike and the potentials and they fight a large fire demon that's going to destroy the hospital, they fight, one of the potentials are killed then they take revenge and stab it to death.

Dawn runs to Buffy who's badly injured, Dawn tells her about the blood when Glory appears and hits dawn, Buffy smears a sword she brought with blood and runs it through Glory's gut and she dies.

Willow fights the first again and it forces her to the ground. Willow sees the ghost of Tara and she tells her that she can't kill the First but she may be able to send it to the realm of Ethos (a realm of nothingness). Willow casts the spell, the First is defeated and Willow walks away.

They all meet up later and everyone talks about their encounters where Buffy and Dawn see the ghost of their mother smiling at them as she gently faded away.

After the battle, the potentials went back to their homes around the world knowing that they will be safe –more or less. Willow was upset when Kennedy had to leave but they both knew it was for the best. Spike was back to his sane self but he went to visit Angel to talk to him about how to cope with his new soul. Willow formed a council of witches and wizards and got a job as an Information Technology teacher at Sunnydale High. Anya and Xander get engaged again and Giles decided to stay in Sunnydale to be part of Willow's new Watcher council. Dawn goes back to school and gets on with her school work and exams and Buffy was happy and decided to take a few days off from her slayer duties just to relax and hang out with her friends.

And now the story begins…


	2. Life will never be the same

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Chapter 1

Life will never be the same

There was a loud, annoying ringing noise that made Buffy Summers leap from her bedside and fall onto the floor. She cursed the alarm clock silently and slowly got up and got dressed.

"Oh crap," she muttered as looked at the clock. It was 7:30 in the morning and she had to get to work. She ran down the stairs and in the kitchen she saw Dawn, her sister on the table eating cereal.

"Took you long enough," she said.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Buffy asked.

"Well… I thought that you needed a lye in, you know, after last night…" Dawn stared at her innocently and smiled.

"Nothing happened between Angel and I we just met up and talked for longer than we thought…" she said.

"Yea right, come on, what happened?" Dawn asked still grinning.

"Nothing OK we just…" Buffy suddenly noticed the time, "Come on, we have to get to school."

"But…" protested Dawn.

"Now!"

"Okay, okay," Dawn frowned, slung her small teddy-bag over her back and walked to the door.

Sunnydale high had been built a year ago having been destroyed by a giant snake. It also happened to be placed directly over the hellmouth which was an apocalyptic pain in the butt for Buffy. Buffy Summers being the Slayer had the job of protecting the Earth from the forces of darkness and it wasn't easy at all. She had faced demons, vampires, a God, even the source of all evil and she has died no less than three times. 

She couldn't have got through with out her best friends though, Willow Rosenburg who was one of the most powerful witches in the world, founder of the new watcher's council and an Information Technology teacher at Sunnydale high and Xander Harris who was a construction worker and engaged to Anya, an ex-demon. They helped her through the worst of times and she loved them dearly with all her heart. Rupert Giles, her mentor and her watcher was also one of her best friend, he trained her to use her slayer powers and to overcome difficult problems involving the supernatural. After the First destroyed the watcher's council in England he decided to join the new watcher's council where he had the task of looking for people willing to become watchers to protect and train the potential slayers.

Buffy sat down on her desk inside her little office in the school. Her job was to talk to the students about their problems, comfort them and help them solve their problems. She liked her job and it was much better than her old job at the double meat palace.

"So, the prodigal girl returns," said the familiar deep voice of Principal Wood.

"Oh, yea… about those days I took off, well I meant to call but I…" Buffy murmured nervously. She had skipped a few days off work because of a nasty horde of demons that were planning to take over the Sunnydale museum of history and turn it into a breeding ground.

"You don't need to worry about it. The kids missed you though, they've taken a really shining to you." Wood smiled.

"I am… really sorry"

"I said it was OK, I know you've got a lot of important duties you have to do, you know being the slay…"

"Shh!" Buffy interrupted.

"Sorry," he said with a smile. Wood was a vampire hunter and found out that she was the slayer after some unfortunate events.

"Right now, work. I have this kid who's been having a lot of trouble, he's just moved in from England and he's having trouble adjusting," Wood said, then he walked out the door and the boy walked in. He was quite tall for his age and quite handsome and looked about 16 years old. He had short, neat hair and worn a white T-shirt with scruffy blue jeans. He smiled politely.

"Hi there, I'm Buffy Summers, what's your name?" Buffy said with a friendly smile.

"I… uh… my name's Chris Redwood," he said. He sounded rather like Giles and his eyes showed sincerity and kindness.

"OK, so, what's your problem?"

"Well I… don't really want to talk about it…"

"Come on, it's what I'm here for. I won't tell anybody. Promise."

"It's this girl…"

Chris frowned as he noticed Buffy smirking. "I'm sorry, go on."

"I don't know her name exactly but she was just so beautiful and I just had to talk to her but when I tried to ask her out she just laughed at me and walked away, she didn't even say no, it just… you know… it hurts when you don't get noticed."

"I know how you feel but you shouldn't get depressed about some girl you hardly know, she must be a real b**** if she just laughed at your face like that, she's not worth it."

To Buffy's relief, Chris smiled and nodded.

"Thanks Miss Summers, your right, I better get back to class now, see you later." He smiled and walked out the office.

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"A good day's work" Buffy thought as she began to go through her paperwork. 

***

"Are you sure? I mean, she can't be cause, you know, she isn't one of them."

"I am sure, the seer is one of the most powerful seers in the coven and she saw her to be the new slayer." Giles took off his glasses and wiped them clean with a tissue.

"But she isn't a potential, she just can't be the new slayer, it's not possible."

"Magic works in mysterious ways, you know that above all people Willow."

Willow smiled. "Sure I do but that doesn't mean that… that…"

"I know it's hard Willow," Giles put his hand gently on Willow's shoulder, "but you have to accept it, she is the new slayer, I don't know how she could be, but she is."

Willow and Giles were talking in the middle of a huge library created in the new watchers council mansion on the outskirts of SunnyDale. Watchers and witches were busy all around them sorting out the books they had managed to save from the destroyed Council building in England and a large amount books from all over the world which were about demons, prophecies, magic and history.

"Hey Will! Giles! Up here!" shouted Xander from the second floor of the library.

"Hey Xand!" Willow shouted back, smiling, "What's up?"

"This place is huge! How the hell do I get down?"

"Stairs to your left!"

Xander laughed at his stupidity and ran down the stairs to meet up with his friends.

"This is some place you've got Will! It's amazing," Xander said in awe.

"Your quite right Xander, this is the best library I've seen in all my life," Giles added.

Willow smiled shyly. "Well, I had a lot of help."

"I'm proud of you Willow," Giles said.

"We all are," Xander said as he hugged her.

When they finally separated and Willow put on her serious face. Xander looked at her confused about what could be wrong.

"Willow, why are you giving me that look?" Xander asked.

Willow looked at Giles who nodded and she turned and looked Xander in the eyes.

"There's something you need to know… about Dawn."

***

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Ring! Ring! Ring!

Dawn and her two friends, Kit and James practically ran out of Math class when the bell went.

"God Math is such a drag! What was Mrs Crowsons problem? She gave me four days of detention!" Dawn protested.

"Well to be fair you did shout out _what's the point of all this_ right into her face, you were kinda asking for it," James said.

"Well I…" 

"Dawn isn't that your sister on the mobile over there?" Kit interrupted.

"Yer, I wonder what she's up to."

They began to walk close enough to Buffy to hear what she was saying.

"I just can deal with this… I mean… Dawn… I just… no way I can't tell her now… I know Giles," Buffy suddenly noticed Dawn and gave her a guilty look, "Giles, I gotta go, I'll… I'll see you later… OK, bye."

Dawn saw Buffy look at her, then at her friends and then back to her. Dawn could tell that something was wrong. "Why were you talking about me?" Dawn asked with a scorned look on her face. 

"Dawn, we need to talk, in private," Buffy said nervously.

"Fine," Dawn looked at her friends, "I'll meet you in the library later, OK?"

"Sure," they both replied and then they quietly walked off.

Dawn and Buffy walked to an empty corridor. Dawn felt quite nervous, afraid that someone she cared about had died, she remembered when Buffy had told her about the death of their mother, she hoped nothing had happened to anyone.

"Dawn, there's something… there's something I need to tell you…" said Buffy. Dawn prepared herself for the worst.

"Uh… I was talking to Giles and he said…"

"What? What's wrong?"

"Dawn, you have been… chosen… you are the new slayer."

Dawn just stared at her sister, completely shocked, "H…h… how? I mean… I'm not a potential, I'm just… well me…"

"Listen, I don't know how you became a slayer but the fact is, you are so you're gonna have to deal."

"Deal? This is just so cool! I can go on patrols with you and dust vamps…"

"Cool? Every slayer in history has had their life expectancy severally shortened."

"Thanks for the confidence boost!" Dawn said as she crossed her arms.

"I didn't mean it like that, it's just, I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'll be OK, look I have to go now, I'll see you later," Dawn smiled and walked away before Buffy could protest.

Dawn ran into the girl's bathroom, unable to control her emotion, she had become a slayer, like her sister, who died over three times. Dawn gulped. From now on her life will never be the same. It will be like Buffy's life, hectic, depressing and out of control. She stared at herself in the mirror and she felt a cool rush flow through her –as if someone was watching her. 

Suddenly, a girl appeared out of thin air from behind her, Dawn screamed but the girl smiled and held her hand out.

"Shhh… there's no need to be afraid Dawny," the ghost whispered.

"Who… who are you?" Dawn asked, still petrified of the ghost.

"My name is Lucy Hanover, I was the slayer before your sister, Buffy Summers. I'm here to give you a message from the prophets. Listen, something bad is coming, it will be stronger than anything you and your sister have ever faced. If you and Buffy don't stop it, your world will fall to dust…"

"Crap. Buffy is sooo not going to like this. What is it? What's its name?"

"I don't know but everyone in the spectral realm's going crazy, they are really scared."

"Why? Being dead I mean, why are they afraid?"

"Because this creature is so powerful it can kill the dead… utterly destroy them. There are rumors of an army massing in the other-realm, a realm that connects to every realm in the cosmos."

"So, its time to summon the scoobies? Do our thing and kill it?"

"Basically, yes. Oh and by the way I have a message for you from your mother."

Dawn smiled, "What did she say?"

"Take care of yourself," after those words, Lucy disappeared from sight and Dawn was left alone.

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Life would never be the same…


	3. Phantoms

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Chapter 2

Phantoms

"Dear lord," Giles said after hearing Dawn's story.

The scoobie gang were at the magic box discussing Dawn's strange encounter with Anna. Anya, Xander's wife to be was at the till sorting out the money, Xander was sitting down on a round desk next to the bookshelf, he was still shocked by the fact that little Dawn, the young girl who used to have a crush on him had become a slayer. Buffy was pacing up and down the shop thinking about what to do with her head lowered.

"Would you please stop pacing," Anya said to Buffy, "it's annoying."

Buffy shot a scornful look at Anya who immediately started to count the money again. Buffy looked at Dawn who looked petrified and she couldn't blame her.

"Hey Buff," said Xander, "How do you know if we can trust this ghost that showed itself to Dawn?"

"I don't know, maybe I can find Spike and see if he knows anything" said Buffy as she put on a blue sweatshirt.

"Buffy, no one has seen him for months, do you have any idea where he is?" he asked.

"No, no he just left…"

Willow put her hand up in the air and said, "Oh, I can do a locator spell, he's a vampire and he has a soul so he shouldn't be too hard to find."

"Thanks Will, if Anna is right about this then we're gonna need all the help we can get," Buffy turned her head to Anya, "Anya can you ask around, see what rumors are going round in the demon world?"

"What are you crazy?!" Anya shouted, "Half the demon's I know hate me and the rest wanna kill me!"

"Fine, you just do some research or something OK, Xander, Giles…"

"Yes?" they said.

"Can you look after Dawn?"

"What!" shouted Dawn.

"Sorry it's just we're not entirely sure that you're a slayer yet and if you are, you need to be trained."

"Oh and how am I supposed to do that when I'm stuck here?"

"I'm not going to argue OK, you're staying."

Dawn frowned and stomped off to the training room.

"Giles, she needs training, and you are the best watcher around so… so will you to be her watcher?"

"Yes of course I will," Giles said smiling as he went to the training room to accompany Dawn.

"I'm gonna go out on patrol, I'll see you guys later."

In the training room Dawn was pacing up and down. Was she the new slayer, will she have to sacrifice her social life to defend the world from the forces of darkness? She didn't want to be the slayer, she knew that almost every slayer in history didn't live past twenty. She always looked up to her sister, although she would never admit it. Who wouldn't look up to their sister if she was a super hero who saved countless lives and slain countless numbers of evil things. She sat on the bench and slowly shut her eyes. Giles sat beside her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Why does she do that?" Dawn asked, "She treats me like a kid."

"That's because you are…"

"Hello? I'm nearly seventeen! Buffy saved the world at least twice when she was my age."

"But she knows what it means to be the slayer, she knows the pain and she knows the sacrifices that need to be made. She just wants to protect you."

"I know…"

"Now, let's start your training, basic exercises and hand to hand combat first."

They both got up and noticed Willow had entered the room.

"I did the spell and there were two locations of vampires with a soul," said Willow.

"Where were they?" Giles asked whilst cleaning his glasses.

"One is in LA, that's Angel and one in… Tibet," she replied.

"Why would Spike be in Tibet? It's just a load of mountains, there's nothing there," said Dawn.

"Well, there are a lot of mystics, seers and mages that live up there who seek inner peace, Oz went up there to control the werewolf inside him."

"We can't go there and get him so we'll just have to assume that Spike won't be able to help us for the time being," said Giles.

***

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All dressed up and nothing to slay, Buffy thought as she walked around the graveyard armed with only her lucky stake she called _Mr Pointy_. The chill of the icy wind made Buffy zip up her sweater to the top of her neck. The Sunnydale graveyard was very large and was the birthplace of hundreds of vampires that were slain by Buffy before they had a chance to smell the air. It was a dark, misty night, perfect setting for a horror movie

She knelt beside one of the moldy grave inscribed with the name of _John Edwards_. As if on cue a hand punched it's way through the soil and the vampire clawed it's way out of it's grave, then it looked at Buffy with blood lust in it's eyes.

"Slayer…" it snarled.

"Slayee…" Buffy said as she held up her fists.

The vampire leapt towards her, she dodged it's attack and elbowed it's head which made the vamp stagger to the ground. It jumped to it's feet and tried to punch her but Buffy was too fast for it, she blocked the attack and kicked it's leg snapping the bone in two.

"Oh God! My leg!" It screamed.

She stabbed it in the heart with the stake and with a final cry, it fell to pile of ash. Buffy suddenly felt cold and her bones felt like they were frozen. 

_Damn its cold_ she thought.

"Hey B."

Buffy turned around and she saw the last person she expected to see. A woman in her twenties with black hair, she was wearing leather trousers and a navy blue jacket. She looked real, but it could be…

"Faith…" said Buffy who couldn't believe her eyes.

"You OK, you killed Glory pretty good back there, shame I didn't survive, I was planning on having the biggest party ever…" she smiled kindly, "Sorry if I scared you."

"Sorry I'm just… you know, strange things have been happening."

"Tell me about it, all the spirits from where ever the hell I'm from are going crazy, they're scared of this evil thing that might kill them. I don't think they've got it in their heads that they are already dead."

"Anna, a ghost visited Dawn and she said that this thing can kill spirits…"

"Yeah, well, they're just rumors, I don't think it's real, it was just some sad guy spreading rumors who's trying to into the 'in' crowd, I think his name was John-something-or-other, really short and geeky"

"Jonathan."

"That's the one. Yeah I think it was him that started the rumor so I don't think there's anything to worry about. How's the gang doing anyway?"

"They're great, Xander and Anya are engaged again, Willows got a new job, and Giles is working for the new council now."

"What about little Dawn and Spike?" Faith asked.

"Well, Spike disappeared from the face of the earth and Dawn… apparently she's the new slayer."

"Oh man, how's she taking it?"

"She's fine, I hope. What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm here to give you a message, even though that rumor about the army and the evil thing came from Jonathan, you still have to be prepared cause there is something bad coming, something big and it won't stop until it gets what it wants."

"Peace and Love?" 

"Death and destruction."

"Same old, same old. God when will it end?"

"Listen B, I've gotta go, they're calling me, I'll see you around."

"Thank you" said Buffy. They both smiled and hugged each other before Faith faded away into the night. 

Later on in the night, Buffy had walked to the alleyway outside the Bronze. She heard a loud scream of a girl further down the alley, she ran as fast as she could praying that the girl wasn't dead. She had reached the end of the alley where she saw a large vampire who was drinking deeply from the young girl, blood trickled from her neck. The vampire looked up, blood was dripping from his fangs and his watery eyes were locked on Buffy. Buffy jumped into the air, kicked off the wall and slammed her foot onto the creature's neck shattering its spine. The vampire slumped lifelessly to the ground and turned to dust. The girl was lying on the floor, shaking, her skin was pure white and she was holding her neck wound.

"We've got to get you to the hospital." Buffy said to the girl.

"Thank… you…" the girl said trying to smile.

"What's your name?" asked Buffy.

"Choice, Choice Summers…" she said.

She couldn't believe it. What the hell was going on? Could this girl be the young version of her mother? Maybe she was just going crazy.

"Uh… Um… How old are you?"

"If you must… know, I'm seventeen."

"And when was you born?"

"1957…"

"Hang on a minute then that means you would be…"

But before she could finish her sentence, she vanished into thin air. _Something really strange is going on_ she thought. Buffy walked off into the night with a million questions in her mind.

***

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Crash!!!

"Bloody hell!" cried Giles

"Oops! Sorry Giles! I…" Dawn pleaded

"No, it's quite alright…" He sighed.

Dawn was hitting the punching bag but she didn't quite know her own strength and hit it so hard that the rope it was hanging under snapped and the bag went flying into Giles' groin. Dawn ran over to him and helped him up.

"Well I think it's safe to say that you are indeed the new slayer."

Dawn smiled shyly, "I am so sorry."

"I'm alright. You are exceptionally strong for a slayer with very little training."

"Thanks."

"I wonder where Xander is, I called him ten minutes ago."

They both went through the door and saw Xander and Anya making out on the round table.

"Oh for God's sake," Giles said.

"Giles!" said Xander and Anya in unison.

"Do you have to do that here?"

"Um…" Xander mumbled, "we uh… Willow went earlier and we… uh… uh… have to go…"

"Bye!" Anya said. They both ran out of the shop as fast as they could.

"I'll drive you home Dawn, Buffy should be back at the house by now," said Giles.

After Giles left Dawn at the house she walked into the living room where she saw Willow sitting on the sofa holding a strange ornamental wooden box.

"Hi Willow," said Dawn, "what you doing?"

"Oh, hey Dawny," said Willow smiling, "How's you're slayer training going?"

"Great, Giles said I'm a really strong slayer. Hey maybe you can teach me how to do magic and I can be a super slayer."

"I don't think Buffy would like that."

"What's in the box?" Dawn asked as she sat next her.

"It's… It was a gift… from Tara…"

"Oh…"

"It's a crystal, she gave it to me when we first started going out… we did spells with it…" She gazed down at the box which began to glow softly.

Willow began to cry, "I miss her so much…"

"I know… I do too…"

Willow straightened herself out and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Come on we better get to bed, school tomorrow."

"OK," Dawn groaned, "Is Buffy back yet?"

"No, not yet but she should be back soon."

Dawn walked upstairs and into the bathroom to brush her teeth. As soon as she entered she felt a sharp chill, the same chill she felt when Anna appeared to her.

"Who's here?" she asked.

"Hey Dawn."

It was Anna who was floating over the bath, she looked very grim and serious. Something was wrong.

"Dawn this is very important… there was another prophecy… about you, you're…"

But she was cut off, Anna turned around and her eyes widened in terror. A black, monstrous shape forced it's way out of nowhere and grasped Anna's neck.

"Noooo! Dawn cried.

She tried to reach her, but it was too late, the shadow tore Anna in half, her scream shattered mirror and the bathroom tiles, Dawn turned away and shielded her eyes. Then the monster turned to her, it's white eyes glowed maliciously and it faded out of existence. Dawn crouched next to the bath and started to cry.


	4. The Quest

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Chapter 3

The Quest

"God damn it's cold!"

Spike was in the snowy mountains of Tibet, he was on a quest to find his inner self, to get rid of the demons inside him. He had been hiking the mountains for day's searching for an ancient temple where troubled people go to seek the advice of the elder monks. He had passed a few villages where they were kind enough to provide him with animal blood. He looked up at the night's sky and he saw that the sun was beginning to rise. 

_Oh crap!_ Spike thought and he quickened his climbing pace.

The sun was getting higher now, he was beginning to sizzle so he tried to climb even faster but his foot slipped and he plummeted. Spike managed to grab a ledge, climbed into a large cavern and ran into the darkness away from the sunlight. He felt great relieve after his skin stopped smoking and cooled down.

"Thank God!" he sighed.

He sat down on a smooth stone and lit up a cigarette. He missed Buffy. He missed her wonderful golden hair, her soft skin and her gentle touch. She was everything to him, but he needed to do this, he needed to find himself, to discover his destiny.

"This is for you Buffy…"

Suddenly he felt something hard and blunt slam on the back of his head, he staggered onto the floor.

"OWW!" he screamed.

"Hey."

Spike tried to get up but the man hit him again on his back and he fell to the ground. He turned around and he saw who it was. Oz.

"Oz? What are you doing here?"

"I was gonna ask you the same thing." He hit Spike again.

"OWWW! Stop!" Spike pleaded, "What the hell are you doing?"

"It was you wasn't it?"

"Me? What did I do?"

"The village on the other side of the mountain, you killed them, killed them all, the women, the children… everyone."

"No! No I…"

Oz moved to hit Spike again.

"Wait… hear me out… I can't kill people, I've got a soul now."

"Prove it."

"How the bloody hell can I prove it?"

"You'll let me tie you up."

"No I wouldn't, I've still got dignity you know."

Oz tried to hit him again but Spike held up his hand and said, "Fine…. _Fine_."

A few minutes later, Spike was tied up at the hands and legs by some tough rope. Oz sat opposite him looking at him with his usual emotionless and cool expression.

"So, why are you here then?" Oz asked.

"I'm here to find this guy, he's a monk, I want to find out how to stop the pain."

"What pain?"

"The screaming and crying of all the people I killed when I had no soul. You can never imagine what it's like."

He said nothing but nodded in acknowledgement.

"Well, what have you been up to then?" said Spike trying to make conversation.

"I'm not a werewolf anymore. Cured."

"How?"

"I met this really powerful witch who killed the wolf inside me by saying this incantation."

"Why haven't you been back to Sunnydale to visit the Redhead?"

"I have my reasons."

"You know, she's become quite the witch now, one of the most powerful on earth."

"Really?"

"Yep. She tried to destroy the earth but she's herself again now."

Oz starred at him, "She what?"

"Some geek called Warren shot Tara, you know Tara right?"

"Yeah."

"Well she died and Willow turned evil, skinned Warren and tried to destroy the world, came real close too."

"Oh my God."

"Don't worry, she's better now. Learned to control her magic and stuff. Oh and she saved the world from the First Evil, that was a hell of a battle."

"Seems like I've missed a lot."

"Yeah, you going back to Sunnydale? I'm sure Red will be glad to see you."

"Might do, as soon as I've done one final task."

"What task?"

"I'll tell you later."

They spent hours walking through the caverns, Spike didn't know why but he knew that something evil was at the end of it, he could practically feel its presence. It was something powerful and darker than anything he could imagine.

"Were are we going?" Spike asked

"I said I'll tell you later," said Oz.

"There something evil in these caves…"

"I know."

"What is it then?"

"Demons."

"What demons?"

"The first demons." 

"Right… I've never heard of these demons…"

"No one has, just the mages who lived in the village which was destroyed. So I have to destroy the temple so nothing can ever release them."

"And then we go back? Back to Sunnydale?"

"What about your quest?"

"Bugger it, I can't be asked."

"Fair enough."

They had reached the temple after hours of walking through the dank bat infested caverns. The temple was huge, it looked like the entire mountain was hollowed out just to make room for it. There were marble columns that reached up as far as the eye can see, the floor was tiled with orange marble which reflected the magnificence of the temple and right in the middle was a pedestal with four small pillars around it with large black stones on top of them.

"So wolf boy, how do you suppose we destroy this place?" said Spike.

"I'll need your help," said Oz as he pulled out a knife and cut the ropes that bound Spike, "Do anything suspicious and I'll stake you."

"You know I could kill you right now, the only reason I won't is 'cause I've got a soul."

Oz pulled out a loaded crossbow from is backpack and pointed it at Spike's heart.

"I'll shut up now, what do I have to do?" 

"I'll need to get some explosives or a spell or something, anything to bring this place down."

"So where are the nasties you talked about then?"

"They're imprisoned in those black stones, whatever you do, don't touch them."

"Fine, just hurry up, I don't like this place."

Spike was on his own again. He really didn't like the temple, the evil presence inside it made him shiver. He needed Buffy. But she couldn't help him now. He decided to have a look around the temple, on the four sides of the temple were gigantic ancient pictures of some gruesome looking demons. One had no skin, it was just made of flesh and blood and it had gleaming black eyes, the second was a skeleton which looked like a deformed skeleton of a T-Rex but it had huge arms with bone talons and huge unfriendly spikes on it's spine and shoulders, one looked like the devil, it had deep red skin, black horns and a long slimy grey tongue and the final demon was by far the worst, it was huge and had grey skin, huge spikes all over it's back, if had huge tattered wings, a flat face with long, yellow fangs and an evil crocodile smile. These were the demons that Oz was talking about. 

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" said a mysterious misty voice.

Spike turned around and saw a monk, he was at least a hundred years old but his voice still sounded young and powerful.

"Who are you?" Spike asked.

"The last thing you're ever going to see child…"

Spike grunted and smiled, "You? What are you gonna do?"

The old man smiled and blinked. When he revealed his eyes, they were pure black like Willow's when she used extremely powerful and dark spells.

"Crap," Spike muttered.

"Indeed," snarled the old man.

"Who are you?"

The old man smiled again, "My name… is Chaos."

***

He didn't trust Spike, who would trust a vampire, but he was the only one strong enough to defend the stones if the thing that killed all those people was indeed planning on releasing the demons. Oz shuddered just at the thought of them. The Four where the most ugliest and most deadliest of all demons. He had seen the pictures of them inscribed on the temple walls. Zen, a mage from the village showed them to him. He said that a slayer lead an army to defeat the Four over hundred years ago when a mysterious force released them from their prison. Over a hundred thousand men died along with the slayer. A powerful witch ended up defeating them and banished them to the stones. God only knows what would happen if they were ever released again. Not even Buffy and the scoobies could stand up to them. He had to destroy the temple so these stones will be lost forever.

Zen had left a spell somewhere in the manmade caverns just incase things got bad and the protectors were killed. The only reason the temple wasn't destroyed before was because that there was a chance that the stones would be found eventually and the demons would walk the earth again.

_There it is!_ Oz thought.

The scroll was pined up on the wall on the other side of the temple. Oz carefully took it off and put it in his coat pocket. Soon he would destroy the evil and he will return to Sunnydale to see Willow. He missed her. Even though she would never love him in that way ever again, he still missed her. Oz put his thoughts aside and made his way back to the temple.

Oz had reached the temple were he saw the last person he expected to see, Zen and he was talking to Spike about something. He walked over to them and without warning Spike ran to Zen and started to punch him. Spike was lying, he was still a full, blood thirsty vampire. Oz quickly took out a crossbow from his backpack and aimed at Spike. He shot it praying that it would hit Spike in the heart and dust him but it hit him in the shoulder, cursed and fell to the floor. Zen smiled.

"Oz! You're here!" said Zen, "Have you got the scroll?"

"Yes."

"Don't listen to him! He's Chaos! A Dark God! He'll release the demons!" shouted Spike.

Oz glared at Zen who looked bewildered by Spike's accusation. Then he shot another bolt into his arm.

"AHHH! You have to believe me!" he shouted.

"Read the spell Oz! You must destroy the temple! They are coming!" croaked Zen.

"Who?"

But Zen didn't need to answer, he heard the roars and cries of dark phantoms gliding around the temple.

"It's the dark force that's trying to release them! You must say the spell!"

Oz looked at the scroll, he didn't understand a word of it since it was written in Latin but he could read it.

"NO!" Spike screamed.

But Oz had already decided. The evil had to be destroyed even though the temple would collapse upon them and kill them all so Oz started to read from the scroll. Spike kept on pleading with him to stop, he was beginning to sound convince him but his voice drowned away as sounds echoed though his mind. When he had said the final words the screaming of the phantoms died and there was an eerie silence. He looked at Zen and then at Spike.

"Idiot," Spike muttered.

The temple began to rumble and he heard Zen laughing insanely.

"You pathetic fool!!!" Zen shouted, "You should have listened to your vampire friend over there. Now you have just enabled the destruction of your world."

Spike was right, he should have listened to him, now the world was going to be destroyed and it was his fault. Spike got up and ran to his side. Then the black stones that imprisoned the Four began to rise in the air, they glowed and shot rays of dark lightning straight into the walls where the pictures of the demons were. The pictures of the monstrous demons came to life and stepped out of the wall. The Four where back.

The Demon of Blood, the Demon of Rage, the Demon of Bone and the Demon of Darkness. These where the demons that created demons and the vampires. These were the ones that had the power to turn the world to dust. Oz had to stop them, but how? How could an ex-werewolf defeat the most powerful demons on earth?

"Well you boys are beautiful aren't you my _sons_…" Chaos said as he inspected them.

The demons were gigantic, about a quarter the size of the mountain and they were unspeakably ugly. Each of them had deep black eyes like Chaos.

"Come on, we have to get out of here," Spike whispered to Oz.

"But we can't we have to…" said Oz.

"We can't stop them OK, we have to regroup, we have to get to Buffy…"

"Oh, I don't think you can go to them now," shouted Chaos who could hear their conversation.

"What you gonna let you're boys kill us?" Spike asked as the demons snarled and grunted.

"No, you could seek the slayer's help by all means but they won't be able to help you…"

"Why?!!" Spike shouted enraged, "What did you do?!!"

"_Me_? I've done nothing of the sort… It's my _brother_ that's going to annihilate them…" 


	5. Shadows and Darkness

__

Sorry about the long delay, I haven't had much time to carry on with this story due to A-level coursework and other commitments. Progress may be slow for a while but rest assured, I will get this book finished.

-Andy

****

Chapter 4

Shadows and Darkness

Buffy was alone again walking through the baron streets of Sunnydale. It was still night time and hardly anyone was around apart from a few teenagers and some people doing late night shopping. She thought about the girl she saw. Buffy could have sworn it was her mother. She said that her name was Choice Summers, she had exactly the same birthday and she looked exactly like her since Buffy had seen her mothers year book hundreds of times. She was really confused, someone or most likely something was going to blow up the world and all Buffy had to figure out what the big bad was and it's motives was just a load of meaningless riddles. Buffy saw a figure from the corner of eye standing in hidden the shadows next to a small corner café she walked closer and saw the warm welcoming face of Angel.

"Angel," Buffy called, "What are you doing here?"

Angel stepped out of the darkness and stumbled onto his knees and coughed blood onto the pavement. Buffy ran towards him and held him in her arms. He was badly injured, covered in burns, cuts and bruises. She saw a large cut across his chest and he was clutching a large wound on his stomach. Despite his many injuries, he still smiled at the sight of Buffy.

"Angel! What happened to you?" asked Buffy who took off her jumper and wrapped it around his large stomach wound.

"Something…" Angel mumbled, "I don't… know what… it was dark, powerful… I didn't even see it… coming… it summoned flames and burned me then we fought… and it defeated me…"

"Why did you come here?"

As if on cue something had jumped off the roof of the café and landed just a few feet away from them cracking the pavement beneath it. It looked like a man wearing gleaming black armor that showed off every single one of his huge metallic muscles, he had a silver belt around his waist and he wore a black mask around his face which revealed nothing but two triangular white eyes. He rose majestically to his feet and his eyes glowed softly. Buffy grabbed Angel by the waist and dragged him back. The man walked forward slowly, cracking the concrete with each step. Buffy and Angel walked faster as the Hunter began to quicken his pace. He cracked his metal knuckles menacingly.

"You did this to him you b******! Stay back or I'll really do some damage to your metallic ass!" Buffy bluffed. Hunter didn't listen, his eyes just glowed as he carried on walking towards Angel.

Buffy ran towards him and performed a graceful flying kick which hit the side of his head and made him stagger slightly. Buffy was relieved, the Hunter's armor felt more like fabric than metal so she thought it would be any easy fight. Buffy threw a punch but Hunter blocked it with incredible speed and pushed her aside. She managed to kick his leg but he didn't even flinch.

"Go away girl, you have no business here…" Hunter said in a low, raspy voice.

"I'm the slayer, this is my business."

Buffy punched him in the gut, he fell back as she threw another punch and then a kick. The Hunter groaned as she kicked him hard in the chest and he went flying through the café window. Buffy ran towards Angel, he looked a little dazed but still alive.

"Come on we've got to get out of here…" Buffy whimpered.

"Behind you!" Angel shouted.

Buffy ducked as the Hunter suddenly appeared behind her and threw a punch. She kicked him the leg and the waist then punched his chest. She drew a silver dagger that she brought with her and she slashed the Hunter's arm. He started to back away.

_Got to keep him off balance_ thought Buffy.

She kicked him in the stomach, punched him twice on the chest and then performed a low spinning kick which caused the Hunter to fall on the ground.

"The bigger they are…" she said.

Hunter lied on the ground motionless. Buffy moved towards him, curious to find out who or what the Hunter really is. She reached for his masked but she was caught off guard when he grabbed her arm. He raised his hand then Buffy felt a rush of warm air hit her chest and she was thrown onto a wall on the other side of the street. Everything went black and the world slowly faded away.

Everything came back into focus, she was in the arms of Angel who was stroking her hair.

"Hey," said Angel softly.

"How long was I out?" asked Buffy.

"Only for a few minutes."

"What happened to that thing…"

"I knocked him out."

Buffy stood up and walked towards the unconscious hunter. She looked at Angel and was surprised to see that he had his vampire face showing.

"Angel?" said Buffy.

Angel laughed, it was the evil laugh that brought a cold chill and the deepest fear into Buffy's heart.

"No… not Angel…" he muttered.

"Oh God no… Angelus…."

He laughed again, "No, not him either…"

Angel smiled as he raised his hand and a black ball of dark energy formed and hovered in the air. He muttered something and then it shot straight towards Buffy who only just managed to avoid it by diving in air. There was a huge explosion behind her and debris was flying all around her. She turned around and saw that the café was lost in fire and smoke. 

"I haven't had this much fun in centuries," laughed Angel.

"Who are you?" Buffy asked as she shielded her eyes from the ash.

Angel raised his hand and the earth began to crack and open beneath her. She leapt from the ground and kicked Angel in the chest. Angel just laughed.

"Kill me, kill Angel," he shouted insanely.

"Who are you!" screamed Buffy.

A wave of darkness shot from Angel's hand and she was pushed on to the ground. Angel grasped her neck and lifted her from the ground. She felt weak, her energy was being drained from her, she couldn't fight back. 

"My name is Nemesis."

His grip tightened. She couldn't breath, she felt a large ball of fire burning inside her lungs. She gasped as she tried to kick Nemesis away but he was draining the power from her and she alone was helpless. Buffy knew that she was going to die, again.

Nemesis abruptly released her and stumbled backwards onto the pavement. Buffy fell to the ground, she had no idea what just happened but she knew that she had to regroup and take him down before he introduces her to more surprises.

A black figure appeared out of the shadows and punched Nemesis in the face. It was the Hunter. He grasped Nemesis' neck and lifted him off the ground. Hunter muttered something and a beautiful aura of yellow mist surrounded them. The eyes of Nemesis glowed red, then he screamed, he screamed so loudly that the windows around them shattered, then a dark cloud seeped out of his mouth and he fell to the ground. The Hunter walked towards Buffy, she tried to shuffle away but she was still too weak.

"You needn't be afraid, the Nemesis is gone, your friend will recover," said the Hunter.

"What happened?" asked Buffy.

"Your friend was possessed by an entity called Nemesis, I'm not sure of its true intentions but it seems to be to destroy you."

"Yay. God why do these things keep happening to me?"

"I must go…"

"Wait… who are you?"

But he was already gone, he had completely disappeared into the night. She ran towards Angel who was still lying unconscious on the street floor. He began to stir and then he stared at Buffy looking completely confused.

"Um… how did I get here?"

***

It was morning, Xander was lying in his comfy double bed next to Anya who was sleeping and had her arms around him. He looked at her, she was as beautiful as she ever was, still as graceful and precise in her words. He was the luckiest man alive to be given a second chance. He would never leave her again. He was going to marry her then have many children and live happily ever after. The phone begun to ring which suddenly brought him back to reality, he reached over Anya who was snoring loudly and he picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Xander said groggily. 

"Xander, hey it's Willow uhh… have you noticed anything strange going on?" asked Willow.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean shadowy thingies that climb out the wall and try to kill you…"

"No… not that I know of, why what's happened?"

"Last night, Dawn saw Anna again but… something came out the wall and it killed Anna… at least I think it killed her…"

"But Anna's already dead Will, once you're dead you can't die again, can you?"

"Well, you can but only if the spirit is exorcised or destroyed by a soul-eater."

"A what?"

"It's this thing that drains the life from spirits, they tend to hang around in the hell dimensions and torture the souls of the damned."

"That's nice. What does Buffy have to say about it?"

"Well she had a fight last night, she's pretty beat up…"

"Oh god, is she OK?"

"Yeah she's fine, slayer's healing powers and all but Angel…" 

"Angel?"

"Hey, I've gotta go now, Buffy's waking up…"

"Hey wait."

"Love you."

She hung up the phone, Xander sat next to his sleeping girlfriend and pondered about what was going on. Anya began to stir and slowly got up. 

"Morning honey," Anya said as she kissed him gently on the cheek. 

"Hey sleeping beauty."

There was a loud knock on the door which made Anya scowl.

"Tell them to go away," she said, "it's too early, come back to bed and snuggle with me."

Xander kissed gently her on the forehead and walked to the front door, unlocked it and slowly opened the door, Xander's smile disintegrated.

"Oh good god no…" Xander choked.

Spike was standing outside the door looking pale as ever, he still had his bleached short hair, his leather coat and black jeans. He had a soul now but Xander still despised him and as far as he was concerned, Spike was a despicable evil creature of the night.

"You're not welcome here Spike, go away," Xander said as he quickly tried to close the door on Spike's face.

"Hey," Spike protested, "I saved your life, if it weren't for me, that Caleb guy would have had both your eyes out."

Xander stood there in silence. Xander had lost his eye after a battle with the mad priest, Caleb who was a servant to the First. Willow had managed to heal him but it still haunted him, it was extremely traumatic for him and his friends.

"Listen, I need to speak to Anya…"

"Why?" asked Xander.

At that moment, he saw someone step out from behind the wall and stood next to Spike. It was Oz.

"Oz, what brings you here along with dead boy over there?"

"Hey!" said Spike.

Oz remained silent.

"What's wrong?"

"We have a problem," said Oz.

"Which would be?"

"I uh… we uh…"

Spike cut in, "Released a few unspeakably powerful demons, no bigy"

"I think we should talk to Buffy," said Xander.

"You what?" shouted Buffy who still looked a little weak from her battle. 

The scooby gang was at Giles' house later in the afternoon discussing the strange events from the past few days. Angel was lying on the sofa still recovering from his wounds. Willow wasn't there because she had a class to teach at the high school and Dawn was at school despite being still a little distraught after the supposed death of Anna. 

"It tricked me, I thought I was destroying the demons, but the spell released them," Oz said simply.

"You said this creature's name, the one who tricked you was Chaos?" Giles inquired.

"Yep," replied Oz.

"Interesting," murmured Giles, "and Buffy, the thing that possessed Angel, what was its name?"

"The tall, creepy Hunter guy said its name was Nemesis," said Buffy.

Giles nodded and went to his bookshelf and started to browse his old, musty and rare books.

"So why did you want to see me?" Anya asked Spike.

"Well because you know a lot more about demons and evil things than anyone else does who isn't evil," replied Spike.

"Oh come on, all you wanted was to have sex with me and you was hoping that Xander wasn't in…"

"Hey, I told you…" 

"Ah, found it," said Giles pleased with himself.

Giles opened the book at the middle and began to read. His eyes widened in terror and snapped the book shut. Buffy sighed. _End of the world again I suppose_ she thought.

"What is it?" asked Xander.

Giles frowned, "Nemesis and Chaos are Gods, they are Glory's brothers, the Gods that exiled Glory from the hell dimension. They loathe humanity and inflict eternal pain and torment to anything with a soul. According to the book of Eren, they tried to destroy the heavens with a grand demon army but they were defeated by the force of Five, whatever that is. "

"Well I killed a God before so…" Buffy started.

"Glory was banished to human form, her power cannot compare to the power of her brothers who are pure Gods… "

"What about these four demons that dog boy released?" Spike asked.

"They were the first pure demons to walk on the Earth, they extremely powerful. They were defeated by the Shadow Men and captured in four crystals. Part of it's spirit was then used to form the slayer who was destine to fight the forces of darkness as long as they exist. I think Willow may be able to capture them again, she has proved to be one of the most powerful witches who ever existed, " said Giles, "but the real trouble is the duo of Dark Gods, I do not know many of their abilities but they seem to be able to possess people and they will be much more powerful than Glory. You must be vigilant, all of you."

The group didn't say anything, everyone of them was fed up the constant apocalypses that plagued the Earth and this new evil sounded pretty bad. Giles shut the book and placed it on top of a large pile of musty books on his desk.

***

At Sunnydale high, Willow was managing the after school computer sciences club but only two students had turned up, Dawn and someone called Chris Redwood. Willow had a feeling that he had a crush on Dawn. She was tempted to read his thoughts but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Willow looked at her computer and noticed that she had mail so she opened the message.

__

They are coming, the army of darkness is near and soon the world shall turn to dust. Only the force of five can prevent this but they are lost. Prepare.

She closed the message, it didn't have a return address and it seemed to have come from nowhere. She had to talk to Giles about this later on, she looked at the window and noticed that it was starting to get dark.

"Uhh… miss Rosenburg, we have a little problem…" said Chris who was standing next to Dawn.

Willow walked over to Dawn's computer and saw that the computer screen was black.

"It wasn't my fault," whimpered Dawn, "It just kinda bleeped then went black…"

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure that I can fix it up later, but um… oh, time, we have to go now its starting to get dark," said Willow.

"Hey, uhhh Dawn I could um… walk you home if you want…" murmured Chris.

Dawn smiled kindly and said, "Uhh… sorry I have to walk home with Will… uh… Miss Rosenburg."

"No its OK I can stay behind for a bit and give you a chance to talk…" said Willow who smiled cheekily.

Dawn looked at Chris looked back at Willow, smiled and said a silent thank you and then they walked out into the hallway. Willow sat at the desk and took one last look at the mysterious e-mail and then turned the computer off. Grabbed her coat and headed for the hallway.

***

Dawn looked at Chris, he was really handsome, kind, sweet and a bit shy. _I can't believe I turned him down when he asked me out yesterday_, thought Dawn.

"So uhh… how long have you lived in Sunnydale?" asked Chris.

"Oh, for a few years, I can't wait to get out of this place," replied Dawn

"Yeah it can be a real hellhole sometimes…"

"Tell me about it."

They smiled at each other, their eyes were locked, Dawn desperately wanted to kiss him but she wasn't sure if she should. Chris held her hand gently and moved towards her but he suddenly stopped and staggered back.

"Chris what's wrong?" asked Dawn.

He fell back onto the wall and put both his hands on the side of his head, then he cried pain and crouched on the floor. She rushed over to him and held him, she had to try and make him calm down but his cries were getting louder. Luckily Willow got out of the computer room and ran towards them.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Willow.

"I don't know, he just started to scream, I…"

Chris moved his head up and looked at Dawn, she stared in horror, she saw that his eyes were pure black like Willow's eyes when she used black magic. Willow looked stunned as well.

"You have to get out!" shouted Chris, "Now! Run!"

"Why? What's going on?" asked Dawn.

"HE'S COMING!!!"

Willow and Dawn simultaneously looked to the left of the corridor and saw what Chris was talking about, a tall, broad man in a grey tattered trench coat, he had deep black eyes, white skin and long, grey scruffy hair. Chris stood up, his eyes were back to normal and he seemed to be fine. Dawn wondered who he really was and hoped that he wasn't evil or a vampire.

"I can take care of this," said Willow.

"No, you can't," said Chris.

"I can take care of this," Willow repeated.

"Believe me Chris she can…" Dawn said.

"I know what she is capable of and it isn't enough, we have to go now!"

Dawn looked at the thing that was coming towards them, she could sense the evil that was radiating from it but she was the slayer now, she could take on anything, just like her sister. Her mind was made up. She was going to slay the demon. She ran towards the thing and performed a flying kick which was one of the moves Buffy had taught her. Dawn heard Chris screaming at her but she ignored him because she knew that she could take down the demon. Her foot landed in the demon's chest, it didn't move and Dawn fell on her backside. 

The monstrosity stopped and looked down on her, it pulled out a dagger from his trench coat that had runes and symbols inscribed on it, Dawn starred in terror as the dagger came closer to her but she saw something block it's attack and it was so fast she couldn't see it. She thought that it might be Willow performing a spell but her defender turned out to be Chris, Dawn saw him kick the beast in the stomach, the beast flinched a little but it's focus was regained and he stabbed Chris in the stomach and pushed him onto the floor next to her. Dawn was in shock, she saw the open wound on the side of his stomach, he was clutching it tightly but blood still seeped though.

"WILLOW!" cried Dawn.

She looked behind her and she saw Willow speaking in a strange language and her eyes were pure black.

"VERETRISIUM!" Willow yelled.

The demon was thrown back and forced to the other side of the corridor smashing through one of the classroom walls. Willow ran to them, grabbed Chris and Dawn and ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction. Dawn looked at Chris, he looked extremely bad, he was pale and it looked like he had lost a lot of blood. She looked behind her saw that the beast was back on it's feet again and it was coming towards them.

"Willow! He's coming back!" screamed Dawn.

Willow began to mutter in that strange language again. Dawn looked back at Chris who was getting paler and he was unconscious. _Please don't die Chris_, she thought.

Dawn began to feel sick, the world around her was pealing away, twirling and she felt a dull pain in her stomach, then overwhelming pain shot straight through her. Then there was darkness.


End file.
